New Delhi: The Income Tax (IT) department has found Rs 1,000 crore worth of hidden foreign assets of a major hospitality group based in Delhi-NCR. The raids were carried out by the IT departments in over 13 premises of the company in Delhi NCR.
The hospitality player has a hotel in a foreign country and many other properties in various cities of India, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. However, it did not disclose the name of the hospitality player.
The foreign assets discovered include investments in a hotel property in the United Kingdom (UK), immovable properties in the UK and UAE and several deposits in foreign banks.
“The Income Tax Department conducted searches on 19th January, 2020, on a group which has been on their radar for having substantial undisclosed foreign assets. The operation covered 13 premises in NCR,” the statement said.
The raids carried out by the IT department resulted in seizing of unaccounted assets worth Rs. 24.93 crore. It included jewellery of Rs 23 crore, cash to the tune of Rs 71.5 lakh and expensive watches worth Rs1.2 crore.
The hospitality group has kept a huge amount of black money on foreign soil by way of Trusts that were set up in 1990s in international tax havens.
The foreign assets of the promoters of the company were hidden under several layers of complex tax structures. The IT department found that one of the relatives of the promoters of the company was introduced as the front to escape the domestic tax laws.
“The investigation has successfully lifted the veil, leading to detection of undisclosed foreign assets of more than Rs. 1000 crore, apart from domestic tax evasion of more than Rs. 35crore which may, inter alia, lead to consequences under the Black Money Act, 2015, as also, action under the Income-tax Act, 1961 respectively,” the statement said.